Larsblog - beer

I've been rating beer (using RateBeer) for well over a year now,
as a way to keep notes on what I've drunk, and how it tasted. I
wanted to write up a reminder for myself of the interpretation of the
RateBeer scale that I've developed over this time. And since other
people might be interested I decided I might as well write this up on
the blog.
...

Russia and the Ukraine may sound like terrible destinations for
anyone looking for a decent pint of beer, and while both countries are
for the most part deserts of pale lager, things are not nearly as bad
as they may seem. There are some interesting beer styles, some
brewpubs, and the quality of the industrial beer (especially in the
Ukraine) is not at all bad. And prices are low, of course.
...

The title of this posting probably sounds like a silly joke, but
Moss is
famous in Norway for "Mosselukta" (the Moss smell). As soon as I
stepped off the train I could not only smell it, but also see the
factory chimney from which it issued. The cellulose factory of
Borregaard is located in the centre of Moss, and spews out sulphurous
fumes that smell faintly like rotten eggs. It used to really stink up
the whole town, but in the last decade or so it has gotten
better. Still, not the best conditions for trying a microbrewery with
outdoor serving, but having spent 40 minutes (and 200 kroner) on the
train, I gave it a try anyway.
...

My friend and Ontopian
colleague Geir Ove Grønmo (yes, he of the
fridge and
the typed data) has started his very own
beer blog. He's a dedicated home
brewer who has been brewing for at least three years already, and even
won a first prize in the Norwegian home brewing championship before he
started brewing stuff that was too hard-core to appeal to the judges.
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Most people who are not into beer tend to divide beer into two
types: normal and dark, and they'll tell you things like "I don't like
dark beer," which makes no sense. It's like saying "I don't like
red-coloured drinks". There are lots and lots of different kinds of
dark beers, and they all taste different. So you may find that you
like many of them, or some of them, or, theoretically, none of them,
but as long as you think that "dark beers" share more than just the
colour, you are clearly not in a position to judge.
...

Before travelling to a new city I always do some research on
ratebeer.com and
beeradvocate.com so that
I know where to find good beer when I arrive. This means weeding out
the places I don't want to bother with, and making sure I know what
the ups and downs of each place are.
...

I spent last weekend in København (or Copenhagen), the city that
for four centuries was the capital of not just Denmark, but also
Norway. At that time Oslo was just a tiny provincial backwater
compared to København, and in beer terms the relationship has not
changed since. In København even the grocery stores in many cases have
a better beer selection than the wine monopoly does in Norway. This
probably has a lot to do with the Danes' relaxed attitude to life in
general, and alcohol in particular. In Denmark schnapps for lunch is
perfectly common, and asking for non-alcoholic beer more is likely to
raise a laugh than actually getting you any. (I know; I've tried.)
...

Beer can be made from many different ingredients, but chipotle,
that is, smoked jalapeños, has to be among the more unusual. It's
brewed by the
Rogue brewery in Portland, Oregon,
which is one of those breweries which make almost nothing but really
good beers. I was surprised to see that they'd brewed a beer using
chipotle,
called Rogue
Chipotle Ale, which we tasted at an
Ontopia beer tasting evening at
work today, courtesy of Geir Ove. (That is, at work, after work.)
...

Some people care more about the temperature of
their beers than others, and my friend Geir Ove has gone further
than most. He convinced his wife they needed a new refridgerator, and
once they'd bought it he took the old for use as a beer refridgerator.
It's at all times filled up with four kegs of homebrew, plus
innumerable bottles from all over the world.
...

Getting good beer in Norway is hard, but possible; getting
well-tempered beer in Norway is nearly impossible, unfortunately. Most
pubs and bars will serve the beer at refridgerator temperature, which
ranges from too cold to much too cold. The problem with this is that
the taste of the beer is subdued, which means that a lot of the more
subtle flavours become impossible to detect, and the main flavour is
weaker.
...